football rambles

 Last night saw Downham unusually playing a Tuesday night game at home in August. They usually have to wait for the cricket team to pack up and play away until September and their midweek games tend to be Wednesday. However a 2-2 draw away to Cornard in the FA Cup and a packed schedule for non league clubs meant that they hurriedly had to organise the replay. There are a lot of new faces at Downham, so I am going to have to find out who they are as the season progresses. I am not even sure if the goalkeeper is a real goalkeeper. He did well last night but II am sure he plays outfield and Duncan McNally is returning to be the keeper this season. However, that is not particularly unusual at this time of year at this level when players are still on holiday. The game itself started off pretty equally, but with neither club really creating too many chances, although Downham did hit the bar and force a save early on. Tobi Lawal added some pace on the wing and the ex-Ely player provided s...

 Downham closed out their season in the Isthmian League North before presumably returning to the Eastern Counties Premier with a good performance in the sun with a beer festival going on in the background. It was a good opportunity for Downham to close a difficult season off on a high. Waltham, who couldn't finish higher or lower than third on the other hand have the playoffs to look forward to as they look to go in the opposite direction. That being the case, you couldn't have blamed Waltham if they had taken things easy, but that was not to be the case. After just 2 minutes Luke Delandes gave the visitors the lead with Downham still asleep, although it has to be notes with quite an experimental defence. Things looked like they were going to get worse just a couple of minutes later when Waltham were awarded a penalty. However, Charlie Congreve was on hand to save it and keep the score to 1-0. Luke Delandes had other ideas and on the next Waltham break skipped brilliantly throu...

Downham started off the game with the slope and the wind in their favour, probably hoping for a repeat of the good fortune that they had with it last week against Witham. However, things didn't go to plan from the start when Shane Temple leapt on a defensive error after only 6 minutes to give the visitors the lead. What Downham lacked in defence though, they made up for in attack and Charlie Royle grabbed an equaliser in the 17th minute. However, another defensive error led to an own goal on 40 minutes and Brightlingsea were 2-1 up at the break. Downham came out firing in the second half, but now the slope and the wind was against them and on 55 minutes Finlay Adams all but put the game to bed by giving Regent a 3-1 lead. Downham continued to chase the game, but it never felt like they were going to get back in it from this point - and they didn't. This was the day when the somewhat inevitable relegation was confirmed.

 The second day of Easter and my second game saw me go up the road to see Downham take on Witham in what will probably be one of the last few games for Downham in the Isthmian North. The wind was high and in the first half Downham had the double advantage of the slope and the wind. Due to these factors they dominated the game and the ball was pretty much in Witham's half for the entire of the half. They must have had at least 10 corners.  On 28 minutes Downham finally took the lead when Nathan Davies converted after a corner found Jake Miller. The ball might have been already going in when Davies converted but anyway Downham finally had the lead they deserved. Downham continued to dominate but you did worry that going in at the break at only 1-0 might not be enough as Witham would have the slope and the wind in their favour in the second half. They didn't have to worry too much though, as Downham were able to frustrate Witham, and keep them at bay. They clearly were frustrated...

 Yesterday Downham took on Felixstowe on a freezing cold day that saw most matches called off. Fair play for them for getting the game on, but unfortunately, that was a about all they got right. Downham started the game off fairly well and Charlie Royle and owain McQuaide looked as lively as usual. Downham had some early chances and Royle hit the inside of the post on seven minutes. However, it felt again like they were missing something up front. A long ball through to De La Paz saw the Seasiders take the lead on 23 minutes, as they seemed to catch the Downham defence napping and showed them how it was done. De La Paz also had a couple of chances to increase the lead, but at halftime it was still 1-0 to the visitors. Downham came out looking motivated to get back in the game in the second half and Royle and Visocanskis posed a threat for the home team without looking overly dangerous. Felixstowe looked disciplined at the back and seemed to be able to deal with Downham. They hit Do...

 There was a definite feeling of deja vu about this game as Downham again dominated and looked by far the better team in the first half. Despite Downham using the wide men more than going down the centre, they could easily have been 2-0 up after 20 minutes if it hadn't been for the Mildenhall keeper and som of the shots had had a little more power to them. However, as the game progressed and Downham didn't make the most of their chances, Mildenhall started to grow into the game. Infact, if it wasn't for a brilliant save from Congreve, who is now the third keeper to play for Downham this season, it could have been Mildenhall going in ahead at the break. However, the first half finished with both teams failing to score and Downham were probably the team who could feel most aggrieved by not finishing their chances. The second half saw Mildenhall have a lot more of the ball, but their best chances seemed to be made from mistakes by the Downham defence. For Downham Charlie Royle...

Yesterday was probably the coldest day of this season so far and therefore obviously there weren't even any goals to cheer us up. The crowd was also one of the lowest that I have seen at the ground. Despite Downham for most of the time playing two levels below this there has been a drop off in attendance thanks to their struggles in the league. There were a few away fans, and fair play to them travelling up to Norfolk from Canvey island. Despite the lack of goals it was a decent game all in all and as I always seem to write at Downham games this season, they were unlucky not to get more out of it. The first half was a bit of a stop / start affair at times, but with the assessor being there, the ref wasn't ever likely to let things slide that he might otherwise have done. Fo most of the half Charlie Royle, Eoin Mcquaid and Dylan Kirk caused problems for the Concord defence but not enough to seriously worry the Concord keeper,which ha pretty much Ben the story of the season so fa...

 This was another good performance that could have easily been turned into 3 points by the home team against a strong Wroxham side, who are doing pretty well in the league. Both sides had plenty of chances in the first half, but it was Wroxham who struck first with a goal from Asa McGeachey on the 23rd minute. It was a pity as Downham had been playing well and passing it around with confidence in the first half. Up front Charlie Royle was causing all sorts of problems for the Wroxham defence, with him back in a wide position rather than the more central position he's been playing lately. It was Royle who equalised on 34 minutes with a fantastic strike from distance that gave the keeper no chance. The second half saw chances few and far between with both sides cancelling each other out. One positive is that in this game Downham held their own against one of the stronger teams in the division and this came on the back of a win away at Stanway on Saturday.  

 It hasn't been an easy start to life for Downham in the Isthmian Division 1 North, so when they took on Tilbury on Wednesday night, it really was a bit of a six pointer as Tilbury are also struggling at the wrong end of the table. Downham started off shakily and were under pressure for the first 15 minutes. However, they grew into the game and a couple of tougth tackles from Jake Miller, who returned to the team laid down a bit of a marker. For the rest of the half Downham were the dominant team, however a questionable penalty on 37 minutes saw them back on the back foot as Tilbury took the lead. Downham came out firing in the second half and with better finishing could have been ahead before Owain McQuaid fired in an equaliser with a decent half volley with 30 minutes to go.  Downham continued to give a spirited performance and were unlucky not to make the pressure count. Despite the number of injuries and the fact that the majority of the players are playing at a much highe...

 The two teams went into the game yesterday having been on very different runs of form. Gorleston had won 3 of their last 4, whereas Downham had lost their last 5 games. Downham had also been forced into making 7 changes for this game, whereas Gorleston remained unchanged. Therefore, I went to the game with quite low expectations of a home win. However, Downham started off lively enough and created most of the chances and looked the most likely to take the lead in the opening 15 minutes. Nevertheless, you know how it works when your the off-form team against the on-form team - and Gorleston took the lead through Joe Marsden on 17 minutes. The rest of the first half was a bit of a damp squib. Downham pressed but with three short and slight forwards against a tall strong Gorleston defence were unable to put enough pressure on to create any meaningful opportunities. The second half saw Downham come out firing and they created some good chances, but still suffered from a lack of streng...

 This was unfortunately another defeat for Downham and another one that they can have few complaints about. Goals from Aaron Bullent on the half hour mark and Gabriel Overton early in the second half meant that the points went back to Suffolk. Things had already gone from bad to worse early on after the break when William Moxon was sent off, so the second Lowestoft goal pretty much killed the competition off with Downham mainly chasing shadows.

 Wednesday night saw Downham go down 4-0 in the battle of the markets. It was a really lackluster performance from the Reds. Well, to be honest I actually thought that the defence played quite well, which probably shows how much of a struggle it was. To be fair, Newmarket defended well on the occasions that they needed to and were clinical in front of goal. Not much to say about this one. On to Lowestoft at home on Saturday.